Professional development is standard practice for SHSID’s high school teachers. On October 18th of 2019, all departments and subject groups efficiently organized various activities and workshops. Still feeling the vitality and enthusiasm of sports week, the high school teachers actively participated in the discussions, striving to contribute to the personal and lifelong development of our students.

College Application & Counselling

Dr. Wu Chen held a counselor training workshop for G9-10 homeroom teachers on Oct. 18th. She talked about how to prepare for the college application process and what 9-10 homeroom teachers could do in the early high school years based on her full experience as a guidance counselor in G12. Then, Mr. Xu Haifeng focused on “How to Find the College that’s the Right Fit?”. Students should take characteristics such as program, place, community etc. into account.

Under the lead of the teachers in the college counseling office, the homeroom teachers of Grade 11 and 12 participated in the recommendation letter and personal statement workshop. Teachers read samples in groups and exchanged and discussed ideas to better guide and inspire their students in constructing personal statements. The college counseling office provided professional guidance and support to homeroom teachers throughout the workshop.

Effective Evaluation

Teachers of Math, Chinese, Biology, and History discussed effective student evaluation. The Math group discussed the goal as well as the process of creating a test paper. Teachers brainstormed and eventually revised the existing test paper quality evaluation form, aiming to assess students' competencies from different perspectives.

The main theme of the History and Geography group was “Modification of Instructional Strategies for Social Studies Writing Expectations”. Historical writing is not only an important part of exams, but also an essential way to help students cultivate historical thinking, organization, and critical thinking. Topics such as how to improve the students’ writing skills, how to design a more reasonable rubric, and how to build up a learning process step by step are always the concerns of history teachers and continuously need to be discussed and modified. The teachers further clarified the objectives of writing and its importance through this meeting. They gained specific instructional strategies as well, which will be helpful for their teaching in the future.

Interdisciplinary Education

In addition to the open class observation from October 14th to 16th, English teachers took part in an AP and IB workshop on October 18th. This workshop was lead by current AP and IB teachers and was focused on informing grades 9 and 10 teachers of the competencies students require to excel in these courses as well as the assessment procedures. As a result of this workshop, the department aims to further integrate school courses and these advanced programs by modelling their assessment on the types of questions the students may face in these courses. Teachers hope this will make students more informed when they make program choices and aid future success.

The high school IB teachers held a professional development session focusing on how the Theory of Knowledge (TOK) course connects with the many other subjects that IB students study. TOK teachers presented the ways TOK can influence the understanding of various subjects by outlining the basic framework of the course and providing examples of how seemingly disparate fields such as economics and ethics can interact. Afterwards, the teachers broke into focus groups based on their subject matter and discussed ways they could integrate principles and questions from TOK into their respective courses. The IB teachers enjoyed the opportunity to exchange knowledge and highlight the connections between their subjects, which complements SHSID’s mission of offering an international education that fosters multiple perspectives and the development of the whole student.

Extracurricular Activities

During the afternoon of PD Day, teachers from the chemistry department visited the Xupu solid waste transportation base. Through the introduction, the teachers learned that the four districts of Xuhui, Huangpu, Changning and Qingpu need to transfer 5,500 tons of garbage through the base every day, and the government has invested a lot of resources to deal with the problems of garbage classification, transfer, and disposal. The staff also introduced and explained the advantages of moving garbage via water transportation. Through this visit, the teachers all re-affirmed their responsibility to promote the awareness of environmental protection and sustainable development to students, which will undoubtedly enrich future Chemistry teaching.

Physics, IT, Biology and other science subject groups discussed the arrangements of subject day and the arrangements for the Science Fair. The IT group held a series of events all dedicated to the beauty of Computer Science in the 1010 Bit Day activity for the high school students. Mole Day, the Chemistry subject day, will be held on October the 23rd. The Science Fair, another big event for science and innovation activities, will be held on October 30th.

(Written / Pictures by teachers of various subject departments)